Patching Up
by Higuchimon
Summary: Atsushi bled to save Kinshiro's life. Kinshiro is going to repay that, and it starts with doing a little first aid.


**Disclaimer:** I own nothing involved in this story unless I invented it myself. This is written for fun, not for profit. All forms of feedback eagerly accepted. Concrit is loved the most, but everything is welcome.  
 **Fandom:** Cute High Earth Defense Club Love  
 **Title:** Patching Up  
 **Pairing:** Atsushi x Kinshiro (very mild)  
 **Word Count:** 2,364|| **Status:** One-shot  
 **Genre:** Friendship, Romance|| **Rated:** PG-13  
 **Summary:** Atsushi bled to save Kinshiro's life. Kinshiro is going to repay that, and it starts with doing a little first aid.

* * *

Atsushi tried to shake his head one more time, but Kinshiro still wasn't having anything of it. Whatever his old friend had to say, he wasn't listening. He had a lot more practice at not listening to Atsushi than he'd ever actually wanted to have, but this was different.

"Kin-chan, I'll be fine. We always heal up after a battle. It never takes that long," Atsushi said. Kinshiro thought he'd said at least three times as they'd made their way up from what was a slowly recovering battlefield to a half-destroyed area of the school building that still contained the Student Council chamber. He hadn't listened to Atsushi any of those times and he had no plans to start now.

What Atsushi said was likely true. In the last couple of months, those few times he'd seen the Battle Lovers doing their utmost to fight off whatever monster he'd thrown at them, whenever they were injured, they shook it off in mere minutes. He'd never noticed them with any bruises or limps afterward either, though even if he had, he admitted to himself, he wouldn't have known what they were from. He'd been too convinced that his enemies could not possibly include Atsushi. The world wouldn't have arranged itself like that for him.

At least he'd thought that. Perhaps the world wouldn't, but a sleazy alien hedgehog and sleazier alien goldfish most certainly had. He didn't think he'd go near a pet store for the rest of his natural life, just in case.

Atsushi groaned, and Kinshiro glanced down quickly at him, checking that the injuries hadn't gotten any worse. He'd already seen Atsushi nearly fall over once, as soon as they'd all reverted their transformations. That was why they were coming up here to get it taken care of in the first place.

"Kin-chan!" No, Atsushi wasn't having a relapse or getting worse. He was still just being stubborn.

Just then they reached the top of the stairs. Unlike the ones that led to the Earth Defense Club room, these were wide and sparkling white, trimmed in a reasonable substitute for gold, and layered with a thick plush carpet. Kinshiro could hear the other four Defense Club members murmuring about it, comments ranging from how much it was worth to how easy it would be just to lay down and take a nap.

No naps, at least not until he got Atsushi taken care. Once that was done, they could all rest as much as they wanted.

He started to ask Arima to open the door. He'd barely begun to shape the first word when Arima stepped around them both and did just that. Kinshiro's lips tipped upward into a small smile.

 _I don't appreciate him enough._ It was a thought he never would've had an hour or two earlier. But seeing Arima and Akoya fight by his side even after everything with Zundar and the fish and their goals being a _reality show_ gave him an entirely new perspective on the world and their place within it.

He nodded thanks and received in return a smile that could've rivaled the sun for how bright it was. _I definitely need to appreciate him more. And Akoya._

As much as he wanted to start that, he also knew he needed to take care of Atsushi first and foremost.

On the other side lay a strange scene, half the usual elegant Student Council room and half the disaster that he'd left of the Earth Defense Club room. Finding out that their rooms were connected by that door by now ranked very low on the list of surprises in his recent life.

Kinshiro knew what had awaited them there, but seeing everything that his epic temper tantrum left behind still sent a shudder through him. If the three of them hadn't found a new enemy in the form of Zundar and that fish, then would they have defeated the Battle Lovers? He'd thought so at the time, when all he'd cared about was doing just that. Seeing the wreckage reminded him of that all over again.

He tried to ignore it, instead helping Atsushi over to the nearest of the seats. His old friend breathed a little harder than normal as he settled down into it, and Kinshiro frowned.

"How does it feel?" He let one hand brush against the top of Atsushi's shoulders and did not miss the faint shiver or the tightening of those shoulders. He needed the first aid kit, he thought, and some warm water and a cloth to clean up what had to look horrible underneath Atsushi's uniform.

"I've felt better," Atsushi admitted, and Kinshiro could clearly hear the pain in his voice. "But I'll be fine, Kin-chan. The More Better Love Making helped." Was that a trace of amusement or shame now at the name? Kinshiro wasn't at all sure. "And I was transformed when I was hurt anyway. We always heal up quickly."

Kinshiro turned a frown toward him. "You were transformed and you still bled enough that it was _on your jacket_. I am going to bandage that."

Quite frankly, he didn't care that he knew Atsushi was right. The small scratches and nicks that he'd picked up during the battle himself no longer existed and hadn't since the moment he'd sprouted wings.

He still couldn't entirely believe that had happened in the first place. If he grew wings at all, he thought they should be black demon wings, not the white wings of an angel. But he would fuss about that another time, when Atsushi didn't need him like he did now.

Now, that first aid kit and water, those were his next priorities. He started to stand up and wasn't at all surprised to find Arima next to him once again. In one hand he held the kit and in the other a bowl of steaming hot water. Draped over one arm was a clean dry cloth.

"Thank you," Kinshiro said, meeting the other's eyes. He'd known for some time now that Arima would do anything at all that he asked him to, and frequently did things that he didn't ask for, but which knew that he wanted or needed anyway. They would have to talk about that one day as well.

It seemed to him that he needed to talk to a lot of people about a great many topics, and that wasn't so surprising. He'd gone out of his way to avoid talking about too much for far too long.

All of that could come later. Right now he had Atsushi to take care of. He set everything Arima gave him down on the nearest table and started to help Atsushi out of his jacket and shirt, wincing as more of Atsushi's skin became visible. It wasn't the skin itself that bothered him, not by any means. It was the large, mottled bruises that stretched across half of Atsushi's back, as well as the three large, half-scabbed over already gouges in Atsushi's skin.

Kinshiro wasn't certain which part of this came from the bell tower and which part came from hitting the ground itself, and he wasn't certain how much it mattered. What he did know was that all of this was because of him. Atsushi's injuries only existed because he'd been such a complete idiot and started this fight in the first place.

Steeling himself, he picked up the cloth and the basin of water and got to work washing Atsushi's back. He could still hear the rest of the Earth Defense Club in the back, mostly staring into what had been their club room and being amazed at how much damage he'd caused.

"I'm not sure if we could've beaten him," he heard one of them muttering. "Look at all of this. He did that, all on his own."

Kinshiro tried not to wince. Atsushi tilted his head up to look at him and offered him a warm smile.

"You always have been the best at what you did, Kin-chan," he said quietly.

Kinshiro knew for a fact he hadn't blushed as much in the last six years of his life as he had in this one day. "That's not something I'm proud of right now," he said, jerking his head a little to the gaping hole that had once held a door. He kept on cleaning Atsushi's back, revealing more bruises and a little more healed skin than he'd thought there would have been.

"Don't worry. I'm sure you'll do things that you will be proud of, soon."

And there went that blush again. Kinshiro focused his attention where it belonged, noticing other scars, mostly faded now, as he did so.

 _Where would he get those? He hasn't done anything but – oh._ The answer came simply and clearly. Those were marks from battle: the battles that he'd started by sending out monsters against the Battle Lovers.

He dabbed the cloth over them a little, being very careful not to do any more damage to the parts of Atsushi's back that hadn't healed yet. Looking at them gave him an odd sense of pride, but not because he'd sent the monsters.

 _He helped defeat them. He protected this school. He cares about it too._ He knew that they had a lot to talk about in the future. This was only going to be one point. Atsushi had done what he'd bragged about doing: he'd protected the school and everyone in it. _He'd_ been the one putting them in danger in the first place.

Gritting his teeth a little, he did his best to finish cleaning Atsushi's back, wincing again at the injuries there. He would make certain this never happened again. He didn't think there would be any more battles like what they'd fought, but just in case, he would see to it that Atsushi wasn't hurt like this again. He swore it in the deepest pits of his soul.

"Ow!" Atsushi jerked a little as Kinshiro started to apply disinfectant to the injuries, bringing everyone's attention right to them. Kinshiro didn't even look up.

"I need to do this. You don't want them to get infected."

The pink wombat thing – called Wombat by the others, or so he'd gathered – started to say something. Kinshiro just gave it one of his chillier looks. He wasn't interested in hearing _again_ about how their powers would repair the damage.

"We should try to get enough curry done to finish the festival with," Zaou said. Kinshiro could see him rubbing the back of his head as he looked again at the disaster around them. "But I'm not sure of how."

Kinshiro let himself smile a fraction. "If you can set the curry pot up again, there's a newly empty room across the hall. Or there will be one in a few minutes. If you'd please?" He glanced toward Arima, who nodded and headed out the door.

"Excuse me?" One of Naruko's eyebrows lifted ever so slightly. Kinshiro shrugged.

"The Press Society doesn't exist anymore. Or it won't once I sign the paperwork to disband it. So they don't have a need for a room anymore." There were moments where it was _very_ good to be the Council President.

"While I'm thinking about it," Zaou said, turning his attention toward Akoya. "That was a _very_ nice hit you did on that guy. Couldn't have done better myself."

Akoya did not precisely blush, but his smile didn't quite hold the sharp, smug edge to it that Kinshiro was used to seeing. Instead, he looked genuinely happy at the compliment. "I thought it was what he deserved."

Kinshiro let the two of them chatter to one another, his full attention absorbed in settling the bandages around Atsushi into place. He could feel another set of eyes watching and knew without looking up that it was Yufuin. Who else would watch him so closely while he took care of Atsushi? He would likely have done the same thing under other circumstances.

"I think that's done," he said finally, examining his work. The bandages looked much better than bare bruised skin did and he was definitely pleased with having cleaned up that scabbing blood. "How does it feel?"

"Better," Atsushi admitted, turning so he could look Kinshiro in the eyes. "Thank you, Kin-chan."

Kinshiro ducked his head and started to clean up all of what he'd used. "I was only doing what was right."

He stopped when Atsushi touched his wrist. "You still didn't have to."

Kinshiro could not look away from Atsushi. He didn't think that he wanted to. He had no idea of what he might've done if they were the only two in there, but they weren't. An absolutely thrilled yell came from the first year, Hakone, who bounced around the group as if he'd just found out he'd won the monthly Pretty Boy contest.

"Yay! Now we can get back to making the Cosplay Curry! And then we can all go have a bath at the Kurotama!" From somewhere, Kinshiro had no idea of where, he produced a batch of tickets and waved them around. "Everyone gets free coupons for the bath!" And he proceeded to do just that, dropping one coupon on everyone's head or in their lap.

Kinshiro stared at the one that landed on him. He'd never used a coupon before in his life. He'd never needed to. He turned toward Atsushi curiously. "Where does he keep these?" Surely the school uniform didn't have big enough pockets for that huge pile of tickets.

It was Yufuin who answered the question, though, with a light shrug. "We don't ask how Yumoto does things. He might start telling us one of these days if we do."

And that was as good an answer as he was likely to get, Kinshiro realized. Perhaps there didn't need to be a better one. He had all the answers he needed now, with Atsushi back in his life and a new path to find for that life. A few things had needed patching up along the way, but in the end, healing had to start somewhere for them all.

 **The End**


End file.
